Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

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DaveAgain
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby DaveAgain » Mon Oct 03, 2022 9:05 pm

Lawyer&Mom wrote:So Netflix kept recommending Harlan Coben adaptations to me, in various languages. That seemed odd, I’d never even heard of the guy, so I looked it up, they have purchased the rights to 14(!!!) of his apparently quite popular novels, and have already made adaptations in English, Spanish, French and Polish! I’m half way through a French one, Gone for Good. It’s entertaining enough, although there are a few too many Major Plot Twists for my taste. I like my mysteries *a little* more down to earth. But no complaints. I’m thrilled that Netflix keeps making original content in Europe. More language learning and virtual vacation options for me.
I've seen a couple of these. I liked the "juste un regard" one.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Tue Oct 04, 2022 12:15 am

DaveAgain wrote:I've seen a couple of these. I liked the "juste un regard" one.


I’ll probably watch all of them eventually. (At least the ones filmed in Europe that is.) Spanish I’ll watch in French dub. I’ve heard plenty of Spanish before. But I’ll watch the Polish ones in Polish. I’ve dabbled in Russian and I’m curious to hear Slavic languages.

I enjoyed the recent Polish show “Family Secrets” on Netflix. I’d love to live in a Poland where everyone is gorgeous, everyone lives in an amazing apartment and the sun always shines! Even if that means I have to have absurdly dramatic romantic entanglements…. It’s a price I’m willing to pay.

I’m six hours into the 15 hour Paul Noble introductory Mandarin course. I’m doing a lesson a day, so less than 10 minutes a sitting. I love it. It feels decadent to have bite size portions of a category V language. Clearly I’ll never master Mandarin at this pace, but who cares? I went to a Taiwanese tea shop this afternoon that was playing Mandarin pop and I understood two whole words in the refrain! It was glorious! (The words? Wo Ke Yi, which is actually the name of the song, off Evan Yo’s first album 19. (The Internet is amazing…)).
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby jeffers » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:22 am

Lawyer&Mom wrote:So Netflix kept recommending Harlan Coben adaptations to me, in various languages. That seemed odd, I’d never even heard of the guy, so I looked it up, they have purchased the rights to 14(!!!) of his apparently quite popular novels, and have already made adaptations in English, Spanish, French and Polish! I’m half way through a French one, Gone for Good. It’s entertaining enough, although there are a few too many Major Plot Twists for my taste. I like my mysteries *a little* more down to earth. But no complaints. I’m thrilled that Netflix keeps making original content in Europe. More language learning and virtual vacation options for me.


Netflix's approach to languages is a mixed blessing. The great thing is that they have several excellent original series in French. What disappoints me is that they have pared down their collection of French films over the years. When I first started using Netflix to practise, there were good collection of "classics", but most of them are gone now. For example, I watched À bout de souffle, which I would definitely watch again, and Le mépris which I despised. Neither of them are available on Netflix now (not in the UK, anyway). On balance, their collection of original series in French more than makes up for this lack, but it is still sad they don't have as many famous old films.

What French Netflix series have you watched? I've enjoyed Marseille, absolutely loved Au service de la France, and I've watched a bit of Dix pour cent, which I haven't found as compelling as the other two. I've noticed they also have a few French stand-up comedians, which I surely will watch "some day".

EDIT: one more positive thing, their creation of accurate subtitles in the native language as well as several other languages is a true game changer.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:43 pm

jeffers wrote:

What French Netflix series have you watched?


Let’s see: I loved Call My Agent, but never was able to get into A Very Secret Service or Marseille. (But I’m willing to try again on your recommendation!) The Hook-Up Plan started out strong, then quickly lost momentum. Nailed It France is hilarious, The Circle France was insipid, but great for conversational French. The Forest is a nice rural village murder mystery series. Lupin was fun if forgettable. I’ve really enjoyed a lot of Italian and Spanish shows dubbed in French. French dubs work well with these sibling languages.

I actually prefer contemporary shows to old classic films. The new stuff is better at letting me imagine I still live in Europe.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby jackb » Tue Oct 04, 2022 5:53 pm

When I first started using Netflix to practise, there were good collection of "classics", but most of them are gone now.


One big reason for this is their crap search interface. It's hard to find anything that's not a Netflix original. Another is that the content owners have clawed back their content. Netflix streaming is a shell of its former self. It you are really itching to watch them, they have tons more in originals and dubs on the dvd service.


I agree with all of your mini reviews especially the close languages. Sometimes I fell like I understand them too.

Not sure if you saw Family Business or Zone Blanche (can't remember the English title.) I enjoyed them both. I'm really waiting on the second season of Unite 42 to be released in the US. Stupid licensing.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:44 am

jackb wrote:Not sure if you saw Family Business or Zone Blanche (can't remember the English title.) I enjoyed them both. I'm really waiting on the second season of Unite 42 to be released in the US. Stupid licensing.


Unite 42 has such potential. I love the cast, the mood, the cinematography…. I just wish they weren’t constrained by the crime of the week format, and could dig a little deeper into a season long story. Like their compatriot, the fantastic, but not French, Undercover. (Highly recommended!)
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby badger » Wed Oct 05, 2022 6:42 am

Lawyer&Mom wrote:Years ago I watched a single newscast from Quebec and decided that the whole Quebecois accent thing was totally overblown… I was wrong.

Lawyer&Mom wrote:Let’s see: I loved Call My Agent, but never was able to get into A Very Secret Service or Marseille. (But I’m willing to try again on your recommendation!)

there's a very funny episode of Au Service de la France where they have a Québécois delegation visiting the main (Parisien) characters, the latter who appear not to recognize that their visitors are even speaking French. :D
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby jeffers » Wed Oct 05, 2022 10:47 am

Lawyer&Mom wrote:Let’s see: I loved Call My Agent, but never was able to get into A Very Secret Service or Marseille. (But I’m willing to try again on your recommendation!) The Hook-Up Plan started out strong, then quickly lost momentum. Nailed It France is hilarious, The Circle France was insipid, but great for conversational French. The Forest is a nice rural village murder mystery series. Lupin was fun if forgettable. I’ve really enjoyed a lot of Italian and Spanish shows dubbed in French. French dubs work well with these sibling languages.

I actually prefer contemporary shows to old classic films. The new stuff is better at letting me imagine I still live in Europe.


I appreciate that Marseille gave me an understanding of French political life, and the fact that they have runoff elections, etc. It's not the sort of thing I would normally watch, but I enjoyed it. I often find myself reading or watching things in French that would never appeal to me in English! I never watch crime shows except for French ones.

A Very Secret Service is my kind of humour: the deadpan stupidity and incompetence of several of the main characters just gets me laughing. One character refers to an Algerian man in a photograph as a "native", the other character corrects him, "you mean terrorist", which is one of many examples of how the show uses the past to uncover current attitudes.

I suppose a lot depends on what you want from the film/series, and one thing I always hope for is "cultural currency". Many classic films are still part of the current conversation in France. I love it when I hear a podcast discuss an old film and I know what they're on about because I've seen it. You might like A bout de souffle (Breathless) because one of the 2 main characters is an American living in Paris, so even though it's a different era, you might be able to imagine yourself there! On the other hand, many of the classics are just boring now, and in any case the continuity you get from a series is better for a learner.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby rdearman » Wed Oct 05, 2022 11:58 am

jeffers wrote:A Very Secret Service is my kind of humour: the deadpan stupidity and incompetence of several of the main characters just gets me laughing. One character refers to an Algerian man in a photograph as a "native", the other character corrects him, "you mean terrorist", which is one of many examples of how the show uses the past to uncover current attitudes.

I thought the best bit was when the American Secret Service are trying to explain that Kennedy is having extra marital affairs and that it has to be hushed up, and the French guys cannot comprehend why having a couple of mistresses on the side is a problem, or a secret.
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Re: Lawyer&Mom, Less is More (French & German)

Postby Lawyer&Mom » Wed Oct 05, 2022 2:33 pm

rdearman wrote:I thought the best bit was when the American Secret Service are trying to explain that Kennedy is having extra marital affairs and that it has to be hushed up, and the French guys cannot comprehend why having a couple of mistresses on the side is a problem, or a secret.


I’ve seen that clip! It was delightful. I really do need to give the show another try.
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